Toshusai Sharaku

Tōshūsai Sharaku is one of the great mysteries of Japanese art. In about ten months in 1794 and 1795 he produced over 140 woodblock prints of kabuki actors, then vanished. Nothing certain is known of his life.

His portraits are bold and often unflattering, catching exaggerated expressions, tense hands and the character of each role, set against dark backgrounds dusted with sparkling mica. They were published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō in Edo. His work did not sell well at the time, but in the twentieth century scholars in Europe and Japan came to rank him among the finest ukiyo-e artists.

Prints such as Ichikawa Ebizō IV and Bandō Mitsugorō II show the intensity of his close-up portraits.